Equestrian sports are popular activities. In many equestrian sports, a rider is mounted on a horse and rides the horse to participate in the sport or ride casually. In many equestrian sports, a saddle is used to support the rider while mounted on the horse. Most saddles include stirrups to support the rider's feet while mounted. Stirrups are supported by the saddle via stirrup leathers, generally elongate pieces of material (typically leather) that can be anchored on the saddle and coupled to or through appropriate points on the stirrups. Frequently, a rider mounts the horse by inserting a first foot (typically the left foot) into a corresponding one of the stirrups of the saddle, and swings his/her body and free leg up over the horse's back to assume a seated position in the saddle.
Mounting a horse can be difficult for many riders, even when a saddle is used. For example, the height of a saddle on a horse may be such that riders may have difficulty lifting their body over the saddle to mount the horse, may have difficulty reaching the stirrup on the side from which the horse is to be mounted from the ground, or must exert such a force on the saddle to pull themselves up into a mounted position that it is undesirable for them to do so (for example, it may cause discomfort to the horse or bend the tree of the saddle).
If a horse is to be ridden without a saddle, for example because it is desired to ride the horse bareback, the difficulty faced by the rider in mounting the horse is amplified. Typically, to mount a horse bareback, a rider must jump up to place his or her body on the horse's back near the horse's wither, lift one foot over the horse's back so that the rider is straddling the horse, and then lift his/her body up and rearrange the body position longitudinally with respect to the horse so that the rider is in a proper seated position astride the horse (usually adjacent the horse's wither). It can be difficult or awkward for many riders to mount a horse without a saddle.
There are many different devices and methods that can be used to assist riders to mount horses or other four-legged animals. For example, a rider may receive a leg up (i.e. boost) from another person, the rider may mount the horse from a step stool or other inanimate object, the rider may lower the stirrup on the side of the saddle from which the horse is to be mounted to make it easier for the rider to reach the stirrup from the ground (although once mounted it can be difficult to readjust a saddle stirrup to the correct position for riding), or the like. A disadvantage of receiving a leg up from another person is that the other person must be present and unmounted where the rider is mounting. A disadvantage of using a step stool is that it is typically not portable, meaning the rider can only conveniently mount the horse where the step stool is located.
Other animals besides horses may be ridden by humans. For example, humans may ride animals such as a cow, bull, ox, water buffalo, camel, llama, emu, ostrich, or the like.
There remains a need for improved devices and methods to assist riders to mount horses and other animals, including methods and devices that can be used to assist the rider to mount an animal without a saddle.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.